Take time to read & write!

We live in an overcrowded age of quick sound bites and 140 character posts.  It is easy to get lost, overwhelmed, or just fed up with the narcissistic world of social media.  Even in the educational world where we pride ourselves in our PLNs and the people we follow it seems like our twitter feed gets clogged by useless tweets and retweets. Sometimes it is nice to slow down, take some time, and read something of substance and depth.    

What do you like about her blog?

I recently had the opportunity to be introduced to Amy Heavin’s blog.   While reading through Amy’s blog, one thing I appreciate is her use of imagery and connecting everyday activities and events into her main point.  She draws you in with her stories.  As an educator if find them poignant and inspiring.

I currently have a blog, which you are reading, that doesn’t really have a specific audience, or much of one at all :)  That is one thing I need to improve on.  But, thinking about a specific blog for school, it would be really cool to start one with students being the target audience.  Something that would speak to them and encourage them to be learners and readers.  

I follow several blogs that follow different patterns of posting.  Some post daily, these are the guys who do this for some form of income either as their job or as a supplemental income.  Others post a few times a week, or at least weekly.  And their are a couple others who post less often than that, but usually once or twice a month.  My current trend is to average about 4 posts a year...not a great way to gain and keep a following.  

A wise man (my wife’s grandfather) once told me, “you don’t write just to write, but you write because you have something to say.”  This is how, in the past, I have chosen what to blog about.  I wait until I have an idea, then post.  Sometimes it is a reflection on a lesson or event, other times it just comes to me.

Sometimes it is a little nerve racking to post something on a blog then share it to the world.  There is always that fear that someone is going to say something negative about it.  Though, even worse than that is the fear that no one will even click the link to read what you have written.  I have had to get over that.  I am learning to write for the enjoyment of it and to say something.  To be heard, even if it is only heard by a few.